Buckling device and method



Jan. 10, 1967 L. G. KNIGHT BUCKLING DEVICE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 19, 1965 39 2 INVENTOR LEW s. KNIGHT BY m ATTORNEYS (Filed under Rule 47(1)) and 35 U..C. 118) 8 Claims. (Cl. 24193) The invention relates to buckles and more particularly to devices which do not have tongues, teeth or other projections which enter the material coupled.

An object of the present invention is to provide a buckle of the character described which may be inexpensively manufactured from a minimum number of simple parts and will give long and trouble free service.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a buckle of the character described in which joinder to the buckle may be easily and quickly accomplished and in which the belting, rope or other material may be cinched more tightly by merely pulling on the free end of the flexible member in a predetermined direction.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a buckle in which the belting etc. may be released from the buckle by merely pulling on the free end of the material in another predetermined direction with a force which is minimal compared to the tensioning force on the belting.

A still further object is to provide a buckle which increases in holding power with an increase in load.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which of the foregoing will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of this specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing (1 sheet):

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the device constructed in accordance with the present invention illustrating a possible use of the buckle in which it is connected to a strap encircling a box.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the device of FIG- URE 1 shown on an enlarged scale and illustrating the first step in attaching an elongated flexible member such as a strap to a buckle.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the buckle illustrating another step in the attachment of the strap to the buckle.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the buckle illustrating the final coupling of the elongated member to the buckle.

FIGURE 5 is a side view of the device taken geneally along the line 55 with portions in cross section.

The present invention is a device 6 for securing the lapped, first and second sections (number 7 and 8 respectively) of a looped flexible member 9 in fixed relation to one another and to said device and consists briefly of: a support 11 having a pair of spaced depending legs 13 and 12; clamping means 14 having a first transverse member 16 adapted for slidably engaging the first section in a first position, and having a pair of arms 17 and 18 depending from the transverse member and pivotally connected to the support legs, the transverse member having a second rotated position clamping the first section relative to the second section; and a second transverse member 21 adapted for carrying the looped flexible member and having a length spanning the arms of the clamping means for slidably riding thereon from a first position permitting movement of the sections of the flexible ited States Patent 3,296,672 7 7 nterested Jan. 10, 1 967 memberrelative to one another to a second position clamping the first section against the first transverse member, and forcing the clamping means to its second position restricting movement of the flexible member.

The parts of the present buckling device may be made from various materials in varying shapes and sizes and still function in a manner consistent with the organization of elements above set forth. The device is extremely simple to make. All of the parts, for example, may be made from a metal wire bent to a shape shown in the drawing and hereinafter described.

The buckle may be joined to any elongated flexible member such as fabric, plastic, wire mesh or other flexible materials. The elongated member may have flat surfaces such as the strap shown in the drawing or have a curvilinear cross section such as a rope, cord, conduit, etc.

The support 11 may be formed in various shapes and have various constructions for supporting the moving parts. The support here shown is formed with the end 22 of leg 12 being formed in the shape of a loop form: ing an opening which serves as a pivot point for the moving parts. Leg 13 likewise has an end 23 formed as a closed loop forming an opening and serving as a pivot point.

The elongated member 9 may be joined to the buckle in various ways as by folding the end of the strap over the support and stitching the ends one to another. The method of attachment forms no part of this invention, however, and in fact the buckle need not be attached to a flexible member but may be anchored directly to any flexible or inflexible support.

The second transverse member 21, around which the flexible member is looped has a length sufficient to enable it to slide on arms 17 and 18 of the clamping means. The device will grip the flexible member even though the member 21 is not connected to the support or the clamping means. Connection to one or the other is, however, useful in enabling quick attachment of the flexible member to the buckle. Transverse member 21 is preferably formed in a generally U-shape with legs 26 and 27 depending therefrom. In order to provide for the sliding of transverse member 21 upon arms 17 and 18, ends 28 and 29 are formed in a relatively large loop so as to permit a loose connection at the pivot formed by ends 22 and 23 of support 11. Transverse member 21 should be formed in a substantially straight line if the flexible member to be secured is a belt or other flat surface material and should be curved to conform to the flexible manner if it has a curvilinear cross section.

Clamping means 14, as previously stated, is pivotally connected to support 11. Various methods may be used to attach these two parts, but a simple and expedient way is to form arms 17 and 18 with curved ends 31 and 32 so that they pass through the openings formed by loop.

complish the clamping function; rotation of approximately.

to is suflicient. Nearly full 360 rotation aids, however, in the steps preceeding the. clamping action. Transverse member 16 may be either substantially straight where it is used to clamp a flat surface such as a belt, or it may be curved when clamping a curvilinear flexible member such as a rope.

The coupling action of the present buckle is effected by the friction developed between the under surface 34 of flexible section 7 and the top surface 36 of flexible section member 8, and the clamping of section 37 of the flexible member between the transverse members 16 and 21. Very high clamping forces are obtainable by the unique arrangement of the parts. Arms 17 and 18 are actually a force multiplying lever with the effective moment arm being the radial distance between a pivot point which in FIGURE 5 is the point at which the cross section of end 31 is taken, and transverse member 21. Thus, as second section 8 of the flexible member is pulled in the direction of arrow 39 shown in FIGURE 5, member 21 is forced against arm 17 which tends to rotate about a ivot point which may be indicated as 31 on FIGURE 5, thus causing transverse member 16 to bear downwardly on first section 7 of the flexible member, which causes surfaces 34 and 36 to be brought into close frictional Contact. At the same time, member 21 is permitted to slide freely upon arms 17 and 18 and section 37 becomes clamped between members 21 and 16.

In order to couple the elongated flexible member 9 to the buckle 6, first section 7 is looped around transverse member 21 and sections 7 and 8 are held together with the fingers of a hand 41 as shown in phantom. The looped end and transverse member 21 are then rotated in a clockwise direction as shown by arrow 42. As transverse member 21 is rotated, clamping member 14 is urged in a clockwise direction as shown by arrow 43 so as to assume the position shown in FIGURE 3; trans Verse member 16 being in contact with first section 7. As both sections are moved in the direction shown by arrow 44 the device assumes the position shown in FIG- URE 4. As friction between surfaces 34 and 36 develops, first section 7 may be released and further tension placed on the second section 8 only. Thus to summarize briefly, the elongated member may be attached to the buckle 6 by simply looping one end around one member of the device and applying a quick, simple rotary motion to the belt. As explained previously, the tighter the elongated member is ulled in a direction away from the buckle, the tighter the'buckle holds the elongated member.

Another it'riportan't feature of the present invention is the fact that the elongated member may be cinched more tightly about an object such as a box by merely pulling more tightly on the first section 7 in a direction away from the buckle as shown by arrow 44. Cinching of the elongated member is easily accomplished. because pulling on section 7 causes clamping member 14 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction in reference to FIGURE 5 thus relieving the friction between surfaces34 and 35. As soon as the tension on section 7 is released, sections 7 and 8 automatically are locked together by the clockwise rotary movement of clamping means 14 as long as some tension between belt 9 and the buckle remains.

The quick attachment of the belt to the buckle and the easy cinching of the belt are features which, standing alone, make this buckle superior to existing buckles. The truly unexpected feature, however, is the amazing ease with which the flexible member may be: detached from the buckle. The elongated member may be released from the buckle by merely peeling section 7 back towards the buckle in a direction opposite to arrow 39. Clamping means 14 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, and as transverse member 16 reaches an over center position, all clamping force between transverse members 21 and 16 is lost as well as the frictional force between surfaces 34 and 36 and the buckle releases the elongated member with a snap acting speed directly proportional to the magnitude of the tensioning force. The force required to release the flexible member from the buckle is relatively small in comparison to the tensioning force between the buckle and the elongated member since the operator is able to take advantage of the lever action afforded by the length of arms 17 and 18 which pivot about leg ends 31 and 32. In addition the fact that section 7 of the elongated member may be clasped at a point distant from the joinder of the flexible member and the buckle affords an additional leverage in the releasing operation.

I claim:

1. A device for securing the lapped first and second sections of a looped flexible member in fixed relation to one another and to said device comprising:

a support having a pair of spaced depending legs;

clamping means having a first transverse member adapted for slidably engaging said first section in a first position, and having a pair of arms depending from said transverse member pivotally connected to said support legs, said first transverse member having a second rotated position clamping said first section against said second section;

a second transverse member adapted for carrying said looped flexible member and having a length spanning said arms of said clamping means and slidably riding along a portion of the length of said clamping means arms from a first position permitting movement of said sections of said flexible member relative to one another to a second position clamping said first section against said first transverse member, and said second transverse member forcing said first transverse member to said second position of said first transverse member thereby restricting relative movement of said lapped sections;

means selectively creating tension in said second section of said looped member so as to move said second transverse member to said second position of said second transverse member;

said first transverse member in said second rotated position exerting a force on said first and second sections as a function of the magnitude of the tension exerted by said means.

2. A device for securing the lapped first and second sections of a looped flexible member in fixed relation to one another and to said device comprising:

a support having a pair of spaced depending legs;

clamping means having a first transverse member adapted for slidably engaging said first section in a first position, and having a pair of arms depending from the ends of said transverse member pivotally connected to said support legs, said first transverse member having a second rotated position clamping said first section against said second section;

a second transverse member pivotally connected to said clamping means and adapted for carrying said looped flexible member and having a transverse length spanning said arms of said clamping means and slidably riding along a portion of the length of said clamping means arms from a first position permitting movement of said sections of said flexible member relative to one another about said second transverse member to a second position forcing said first transverse member to said second position of said first transverse member, thereby clamping said first section against said first transverse member;

means selectively creating tension in said second section of said looped member so as to move said second transverse member to said second position of said second transverse member; and

said first transverse member in said second rotated position exerting a force on said first and second sections as a function of the magnitude of the tension exerted by said means.

3. A device for securing the lapped first and second sections of a looped flexible member in fixed relation to one another and to said device comprising:

a support having a pair of spaced depending legs, said legs being formed with axially aligned bearings each defining an axial pivot;

clamping means having a. first transverse member adapted for slidably engaging said first section in a first position, and having a pair of arms depending from said first transverse member mounted in said journals for rotation, said transverse member having a second rotated position clamping said first section relative to said second section;

a second transverse member mounted for rotation about said axis and adapted for carrying said looped flexible member and having a length spanning said arms of said clamping means and slidably riding along a portion of the length of said clamping means arms from a first position permitting movement of said sections of said flexible member relative to one another about said second transverse member, to a position forcing said first transverse member to said second position of first said tranverse member thereby clamping said first section against said first transverse member; and

means selectively creating tension in said second section of said looped member so as to move said second transverse member to said second position.

4. A device for securing a flexible elongated member thereto comprising:

a support adapted for connection to said elongated member and having a pair of spaced depending legs formed with aligned openings therein;

clamping means having a transverse member adapted for releasably engaging said elongated member and having a pair of arms depending therefrom and extending through said openings for pivotal connection to said support, said means having a first position permitting movement of said elongated member and a second rotated position engaging and clamping said elongated member in fixed relation thereto; and a a U-shaped member adapted for receiving said looped flexible member and having a cross member spanning said arms of said clamping means for slidably riding thereon, said U-shaped member having legs formed with enlarged openings for loosely receiving said arms of said clamping means for permitting movement of said cross member from a first position permitting relative movement of said flexible member sections to a second position restricting said movement.

5. A device for securing the lapped first and second sections of a looped flexible elongated member in fixed relation to one another and to said device comprising:

a support having a pair of spaced depending legs;

a clamping means having a first transverse member adapted for engagement with said flexible member and a pair of arms depending therefrom and pivotally connected to said legs, said first member having a first position permitting relative movement of said sections and a second rotated position clamping said sections in fixed relation to one another;

a second transverse member adapted for carrying said looped flexible member and having a length spanning said arms of said clamping means and slidably riding along a portion of the length of said clamping means arms from a first position to a second position clamping said flexible member in frictional engagement with said first transverse member, said second transverse member engaging said clamping arms in said second position at a distance from said the force which said first transverse exerts upon said sections; and

means selectively creating tension in said second section of said looped member so as to move said sec- 0nd transverse member to said second position.

6. A method for securing an end of a flexible elongated member to an anchoring device comprising the steps of:

securing said device to an anchorage, said device having a pair of spaced depending legs and a clamping means pivotally connected to said legs;

anchoring an end of said flexible member;

looping the other free end of said elongated member under and over a U-shaped member pivotally connected to said legs of said device so as to lap said free end in frictional engagement with a portion of said anchored end;

rotating said U-shaped member and the lapped sections of said flexible member in a first direction until said U-shaped member engages said clamping means;

exerting a pulling force on said free end of said flexible member away from said anchoring device so as to rotate said clamping means in a second direction opposite to said first direction and continuing to pull until said device and said elongated member are in tension; and

releasing said free end of said elongated member thereby permitting said clamping means to rotate in said first direction forcing the lapped sections of said elongated member into frictional engagement with one another and thereby securing said elongated member in fixed tensioned relation to said anchoring device.

7. A method for increasing the tension between a flexible member and an anchored device secured to one an- 6O pivot axls so as to create an eifective lever arm multiplying the force said second transverse member exerts upon said clamping means when said flexible member is tensioned and thereby multiplying other as characterized in claim 6 comprising the steps of exerting a pulling force on said free end relatively greater than the existing force anchoring said elongated member and in a direction so as to rotate said clamping means in said second direction; and releasing said free end thereby permitting said clamping means to rotate in said first direction and automatically securing said free end in frictional engagement with said anchored end.

8. A method for releasing a flexible elongated member from a device as characterized in claim 6 comprising the steps of:

pulling the free end of said flexible member in a direction so as to rotate said clamping member in said second direction until it reaches an over center position and continues to rotate due to .the force exerted by said anchored end, thereby permitting said free end to move toward said device and relaxing the tension on said anchored end.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,511,897 10/1924 McKune 24139 FOREIGN PATENTS 121,269 2/1931 Austria.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

E. SIMONSEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR SECURING THE LAPPED FIRST AND SECOND SECTIONS OF A LOOPED FLEXIBLE MEMBER IN FIXED RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER AND TO SAID DEVICE COMPRISING: A SUPPORT HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED DEPENDING LEGS; CLAMPING MEANS HAVING A FIRST TRANSVERSE MEMBER ADAPTED FOR SLIDABLY ENGAGING SAID FIRST SECTION IN A FIRST POSITION, AND HAVING A PAIR OF ARMS DEPENDING FROM SAID TRANSVERSE MEMBER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID SUPPORT LEGS, SAID FIRST TRANSVERSE MEMBER HAVING A SECOND ROTATED POSITION CLAMPING SAID FIRST SECTION AGAINST SAID SECOND SECTION; A SECOND TRANSVERSE MEMBER ADAPTED FOR CARRYING SAID LOOPED FLEXIBLE MEMBER AND HAVING A LENGTH SPANNING SAID ARMS OF SAID CLAMPING MEANS AND SLIDABLY RIDING ALONG A PORTION OF THE LENGTH OF SAID CLAMPING MEANS ARMS FROM A FIRST POSITION PERMITTING MOVEMENT OF SAID SECTIONS OF SAID FLEXIBLE MEMBER RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER TO A SECOND POSITION CLAMPING SAID FIRST SECTION AGAINST SAID FIRST TRANSVERSE MEMBER, AND SAID SECOND TRANSVERSE MEMBER FORCING SAID FIRST TRANSVERSE MEMBER TO SAID SECOND POSITION OF SAID FIRST TRANSVERSE MEMBER THEREBY RESTRICTING RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID LAPPED SECTIONS; MEANS SELECTIVELY CREATING TENSION IN SAID SECOND SECTION OF SAID LOOPED MEMBER SO AS TO MOVE SAID SECOND TRANSVERSE MEMBER TO SAID SECOND POSITION OF SAID SECOND TRANSVERSE MEMBER; SAID FIRST TRANSVERSE MEMBER IN SAID SECOND ROTATED POSITION EXERTING A FORCE ON SAID FIRST AND SECOND SECTIONS AS A FUNCTION OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE TENSION EXERTED BY SAID MEANS. 